Monday

Marcus was enrolled in school the week before. Football season was almost over, but he's only in sixth grade, so they let all the kids play. Marcus is actually pretty good. He played strong safety in Chicago and resumed the position in LA. His job was to cover the eligible pass receivers. Right now, it was time to scrimmage. They had a game on Saturday.

Tyler Pope was the quarterback. He lined up a pass for his wide receiver. The pass was on target but Marcus outmuscled the receiver and took the ball. The coach blew the whistle, ending the play.

"Again! This time, run your route like you mean it."

The receiver sighed and tried again. Marcus was fast and had good timing.

Tyler threw the same pass. Marcus knocked it from the receiver's hands into the ground.

"I had it first," the player complained.

"You didn't hold on!" the coach answered. "Next play." They went on to practice with players on the other side of the field.

"Marcus, could you come here for a minute." The coach beckoned him. He came running.

"Yes, Coach!"

"You're pretty good. How long have you been playing?"

"My grandpa signed me up when I was 5."

"You play any other positions."

"I used to play quarterback. I switched when our safety broke his foot."

"They're not too many spots on varsity next year. We have a lot of rising eighth graders, but I think you have a knack for this game. I want you to meet the varsity coach. Do you have any time after school tomorrow?"

"Yes sir."

"Again!" the coach yelled. Tyler sighed. He was having trouble getting his offense to perform.

"They don't run through the passes," Marcus commented.

"What?" said the coach.

"They get to the end of their route and stop, makes it easy for the defender to catch up to them and break up the pass. If they kept running and Tyler picked a point along the way, they would have a much higher likelihood of success."

Marcus was right. The coach knew it. "Hey, keep running through your passes."

The players looked at him. Wtf does that even mean?

Tyler, throw Marcus the ball. Marcus ran to it, grabbed it and changed directions. He ran a smooth route.

"That's what I want to see. Keep running. Don't stop where you expect the ball."

It took a few tries. Tyler had to start adjusting his passes, but the offense got smoother. Marcus went for another pass. The receiver caught it, but Marcus tackled him before he could get any extra yards.

Sharon's house

Bobby picked up Rusty from school, and they came home with a smoker. He was setting it up in the backyard.

Rusty watched him, having no idea what a smoker was. "You need any help out there."

"If you could bring me a beer, that would be great."

Rusty could do that. He came back with a cold one and handed it to Bobby.

"Thanks dude." Bobby started to chug.

"How does this thing work?"

Bobby showed him. "You put the charcoal here and light it. You soak your wood chips, hickory, maple whatever you want to use in water and put them on top. The coal will turn the wood into smoke which will cook the meat that you put up here on the grate. The smoke will cook the meat slowly over a long time and the flavor from the wood will get into the meat."

"Is that how you made that food at the office party? It was really good."

"Yeah, and now we can make all kinds of stuff: beef jerky, smoked salmon, you name it, we can smoke it."

Rusty laughed. "That sounds awesome. Can we use it today?"

"We have to get some meat first and brine it and then we can get right to it. I was going to go to the butcher tomorrow morning. Wanna come with?"

"Sure."

"For now, beer." Bobby continued to chug. "If you don't tell Sharon, you can have one."

"Really?"

"Why not."

Rusty grabbed a beer and poured it into a cup, in case Sharon came back early.

Flynn's House

Andrea and Flynn made sandwiches for dinner. Tonight, it was portabello mushrooms with poached eggs and pesto on sourdough. Andrea was getting used to vegetarian food. She was eating healthier and actually felt pretty good. She couldn't wait until Christmas, though. Her daddy's brisket was divine. She planned to go to the store and make some vegetarian food. Her mother had a way of adding bacon to everything.

Flynn made a side salad with frisee, kale, arugula, walnuts, goat cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

They sat down to eat. "How come you became a vegetarian?"

"I gained a bit a weight from my drinking days. It wasn't just the booze. A lot of it was the bar food I ate, wings, burgers, chili dogs. When I stopped drinking, I needed a new diet. Vegetarianism kind of stuck. Do you miss eating meat?"

"Not really. I did at first, but I like the food we eat. I also like the money I save. Produce is cheaper. This sandwich is really good." She bit down, getting egg yoke all over her plate.

They talked and ate. They were having Thanksgiving Dinner with his kids and his ex-wife. This was going to be interesting.

Brenda and Fritz

Brenda got a plane ticket for Marcus to come to Florida with them. She hoped he would have fun. Her family could be a bit much. On the bright side, it's a great excuse to stay in a hotel.

She found a room for them with two beds. It was near Clay's house.

The door turned. It was Marcus. He came in through the door. He had carpooled.

"Hey Marcus. How was school?"

"It was good. I had a good practice today."

"That's great. He went into the bathroom and took a shower."

Brenda missed Bobby's cooking, good thing he was having a barbeque on Saturday. She was making chicken thighs and roasted potatoes for dinner. The doorknob turned again.

Fritz came inside. "Hey, honey." He set down his briefcase and greeted his wife with a kiss. "Smells good."

"Hi, Fritz. It's almost ready."

"Since when did I marry Donna Reed?"

"Oh hush."

Fritz opened the fridge and grabbed a soda.

"Don't spoil your appetite."

"Yes, Mom!" He smirked at her.

Marcus came into the room. "Hey, Dad."

"Hey Marcus. How was your day?"

"It was good. The coach wants me to stay after school and meet the varsity coach tomorrow. He thinks I have a chance at getting a starting spot next year."

"That's great."

"Will we meet him on Saturday?" Brenda was excited to go to his game. She's watched all of her brother's games as a kid. She loved it.

"Maybe after the game. He'll be busy during it."

"Bobby's having a BBQ afterwards."

"Yes!" Marcus loved the sound of meat.

"Should we bring something?" Fritz didn't want to be a crummy guest.

"I'll call him and ask. He likes to plan his menus."

The timer went off. Brenda took the chicken out, and put it on wire racks to rest. The potatoes needed more time. She took out a wedge of butter and rubbed the chicken. She sprinkled on a little salt and pepper. Marcus set the table, and Fritz washed his hands. He poured a drink for everyone, water for himself, milk for Marcus and iced tea for Brenda. Brenda took out the potatoes and added some rosemary butter. She added a little salt. Then, she plated the food.

They sat down and ate.

"This is good," Marcus said. "The skin is crispy."

"I'm glad you like it."

Fritz was surprised Brenda learned to cook. He should have invited Bobby to California years ago.

"How was work?" Marcus was looking at his dad when he asked the question.

Fritz answered first. "We got a lead on a case. We're sending a team to Montreal to check it out."

"Cool! Are you going?"

"Not on this one, but I might be going later. This is going to be a long investigation."

"How come?"

"It's a large operation. They're exchanging drugs from Canada to Mexico and back. They're going through a lot of city and a lot of people. We need to figure out every link in the chain because if we catch only one guy, all the guys who know him will run and we'll lose any advantage that we have.

"Sounds like a big job."

"There's a lot of guys on this case. How was your day, Brenda?"

"We finally settled that home break-in case."

"Did he go to jail?"

"No. He has to pay a fine and restitution, serve probation, go to counseling, and do 500 hours of community service."

"How is this a punishment?" Marcus was confused.

"We don't have enough room to stick everyone in jail," Fritz added. "We reserve that for the worst offenders."

"Why don't we just build more jails?"

"The government has limited money. Every dollar we spend running jails is a dollar less for something else, like running schools, parks, giving grants, scholarships, etc. All the money comes from one pot."

"So sending people to jail is bad?"

"It's not bad. Some people should be there. It would just be better if people stopped being bad."

"I don't want to go to jail. It sounds like no fun."

"It isn't." Brenda answered a little too quickly. Fritz looked at her, but she looked down at her plate. She hadn't told him this, but she and Eileen got arrested in Amsterdam when she was with the CIA. They had assumed names, so her record was clean, but it still sucked.

"We should get you a bike." Fritz was ready to change the subject.

"Can we go on Friday after school?"

"I don't see why not."

Fritz needed to get a bike for himself, so he could ride with Marcus.

Brenda would just as well leave them to it. She was all good with being a couch potato.

They just finished dinner when the phone rang.

"Hello, Charlie what is it."

"I just broke up with my boyfriend."

"I'm sorry. What happened?"

"We went to a party, and this guy just started talking to me. It was totally casual. My boyfriend got mad and started yelling. I went to another room to let him chill out, but he was just mad all night. I thought he would cool down, but he ignored my texts all weekend. I finally see him today, and he had hickeys all over his neck."

"That's terrible."

"The worst part was, he tried to blame me. Apparently, my leaving stressed him out so much that he ended up in some whore's room."

"Charlie, don't blame her. She probably didn't even know about you."

"Oh yes she did. She invited us to the party."

"This was still his fault."

"I know. It just sucks. I mean I was nervous about how things would work long distance too, but I didn't think it would just explode before I even left. Now, he wants the money that he gave me that he now claims were loans."

"Money?"

"It was stupid stuff like we took a bus trip to NY, and he put stuff on his credit card. It was months ago, and he never said anything about paying him back."

"He's probably just bitter."

"Tell me about it."

"Weren't you having trouble with him before."

"Yeah, so."

"So, you found out he was a louse and cut him loose relatively unscathed. This hurts. I know it does, but you're not in debt or pregnant. You will be just fine and you're much better off without him. There are plenty of fish in the sea and soon enough, you'll be in LA for a whole semester. You'll have the opportunity to make all kinds of new friends."

"You're right. I am excited about it."

"December will be here before you know it, and you won't be back at Georgetown until September."

"You're right. Thanks Aunt Brenda."

"You're welcome, and I'll see you soon."

"Who was that?" Marcus asked her.

"That was my niece, Charlie."

"What went wrong?" Fritz asked her.

"She broke up with her boyfriend."

"That's too bad."

"Will we see her at Thanksgiving?" Marcus asked.

"I don't know. She might be visiting her mother."

"Her mother's not coming."

"She and my brother split up." Brenda skipped the story; he was only 11.

"Is her father, Bobby?"

"Yes, he is."

"Is he coming to Thanksgiving?"

"I think he's staying with Sharon."

"Who's Sharon?"

"His girlfriend."

Sharon's House

Sharon called and said she'd be running late. An accountant and his client were both in the hospital after a violent altercation, and they both claimed the other was the aggressor. This accountant represented a lot of celebrities, and the client's dad was some hotshot, so it was a hot mess. They both had expensive lawyers demanding justice. She wanted to go home and leave them as she found them.

Rusty and Bobby drank beer and grilled. "I could go for some bud," Bobby said.

"You have plenty in the fridge."

"I meant the other kind. My back feels like crap."

"What's wrong with it?"

"A lifetime of construction work. The doctor's say there's nothing to fix. I used to go to chiropractor, but it's a waste of money."

"Promise not to tell Sharon."

"What do you think I am, suicidal?"

"Let's go." Rusty showed Bobby his secret stash. Bobby tried to pay him, but Rusty said not to worry about it. Rusty didn't know how to roll. He left that to Kyle.

Bobby took a paper and rolled one. He clearly had a lot of practice. "Where do we go?"

"Kyle usually just drives some where."

"I think there is a park nearby." They headed out About three blocks away, there was an empty park. Bobby took out his lighter and lit it. They smoked by the swings. Rusty kept his eyes peeled, but no one came.

"Outside makes me nervous," Rusty admitted. "I wish there wasn't a smell. Then, we could just stay inside."

"In Atlanta, my buddies and I had a little warehouse that we turned into a loft. Rent was cheap, especially between all of us, and we could just smoke there whenever."

"Sounds nice."

"It was. We should head back now."

"hey walked back home and did a breath check. Rusty changed his shirt. Bobby just went with fabreeze. "She's a cop you know."

Bobby changed his shirt.